Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in a housing estate in Berlin

In March, Berlin health authorities imposed a shower ban in a housing estate in the Neukölln district after tests showed elevated levels of Legionella bacteria in the local water supply. However, at least one tenant contracted Legionnaires’ disease, a deadly form of pneumonia, and it is not clear if other residents have been exposed to the bacteria before the shower ban. The affected tenant, Brianne Curran, said that she began to experience flu-like symptoms in January and suffered from severe coughing and breathing difficulties for several weeks. However, she only tested for Legionnaires’ disease in late March after the imposition of the shower ban on her housing estate. The doctor confirmed her positivity to the disease and mentioned other suspected cases in the area. On April 11, Curran was informed by her landlord, the housing company Howoge, that the water supply in her apartment had by far the highest concentration of Legionella bacteria in the estate. Curran accused Howoge of being too slow in informing tenants about the risk posed by their water supply and implementing containment measures only after several requests and pressures.
In a statement to DW, Howoge played down the extent of the outbreak, saying that only seven apartments breached safety levels and criticizing health authorities for imposing the shower ban. The Neukölln health authority replied that the ban was necessary due to the number of households dependent on the same water system. It also confirmed that Howoge implemented measures to contain the outbreak, including replacing water fittings in the apartments and reheating the water to sterilize it. According to Curran, this happened only after she took the case to the media, forcing Howoge to act.
On April 8, an external environmental consulting company named GUC was commissioned to investigate the cause of the outbreak and is drafting a list of measures to eliminate the Legionella contamination. State-owned Howoge is one of the biggest landlords in Germany, controlling over 80,000 apartments in Berlin. Curran believes that the company’s staff is not able to manage effectively such a high number of properties, relying on outdated systems and protocols. In 2024, there have been Legionella outbreaks in several big cities worldwide, including London, New York, and Milan. Their frequent occurrence is pushing some European cities to introduce technologies like water monitoring apps and smart water systems to prevent bacterial contamination.